I first visited China in November 1986. I was representing the New South Wales Government on a multinational mission to our Sister State Guangdong. My photo taken for the trip is still in the State archive [click here]. The theme was regional and small business development. The group heard presentations from Chinese bureaucrats and visited a number of factories in rural and industrial areas in Southern China. It was clear then that China was developing at a very fast rate economically.
The Canadian delegate and I went for a walk in one regional centre and were amazed by the quantity and variety of machinery on sale in the high street: lathes; milling machines; plastic extrusion machines and so on; at very low prices. These were clearly being purchased on a grand scale by small private businesses.
I had never seen so many pushbikes as in Guangzhou. The streets were packed; like an endless start at the Tour de France.
One of the things that impressed me about China was the sense of humour of the officials that we met. They were quite cynical and disrespectful. It ran counter to my impression of Communism. They made really surprising jokes about all aspects of Chinese life, including government. In this respect they seemed quite different to the Japanese who at the time appeared to greatly respect authority; at least in the presence of strangers. More than once negative comments and jokes were made about the Japanese (when the Japanese delegate was absent); which is not surprising in the light of history. But he did buy a very nice, and inexpensive, rice cooker at one of their factories.
At the factories we visited the whole delegation was struck by the number of employees working on each machine. It soon became apparent that for each skilled worker there were five or six students or apprentices. Each, no doubt, would soon have a machine of their own; together with six more apprentices. There were few safety guards on the machines and virtually no safety equipment was being worn. I understand that due to very high accident rates in these early days OH&S is now a big issue in China.
Shanghai
The next time I saw China was in to 2005, when we stopped over in Shanghai on our return from Europe. What a difference. Shanghai was abuzz with distant, and not so distant, jackhammers. Very tall apartment blocks leapt from old waterfront coal loader sites, almost as we watched.
Shanghai Business District (from our hotel)
The thousands of push bikes I had seen in the eighties were now replaced by motorbikes and many many new cars. The skyline is now studded with futuristic new office towers. We looked in vain for old China Town or the Chinese markets. Although appearing on our out-of-date map these were now replaced by grand boulevards, flanked by sales rooms for expensive European cars; exclusive fashion boutiques; and jewellery stores. At one of these I was able to have my Swiss watch cleaned and serviced at no cost - remarkable.
The Bund
We were staying at the Peace Hotel in the Bund. Our suite was on two levels with wide flat screen televisions on each; and two bathrooms. We had bought it on-line at less cost than the Travel Agent was able to find us a single room. We travelled under the river to reach the central business district and the tallest of Shanghai’s buildings. We travelled on top of the river on a sightseeing cruise. We had some excellent Chinese food at the restaurant in our hotel and it even provided a floor show with our meal one evening. But because of a local wedding another night, we decided to eat in the European bar and grill in another part of the hotel. It was one of the most expensive steaks (and certainly not the best) that I have ever eaten. More fool us!
Beijing and Xi'an
We went to China again in 2009; this time with friends. Our itinerary took us from Beijing to Xi’an and then to the ‘terracotta warriors’ then back to Beijing.
Terracotta Warriors
From Beijing we visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace.
The Great Wall
Everything in Beijing is on a huge scale. We soon learned that what looks like a short distance on a map can take several hours to walk; as when we tried to circumnavigate the Forbidden City. We quickly found out how to use the Metro. Here we discovered that many Chinese people are strangers to Beijing and within a day we were helping people negotiate the turnstiles and the other vagaries of the system.
As in most of China old Beijing is rapidly disappearing. For example most of the old city wall has been demolished to be replaced by a multi-lane ring road.
Typical Beijing Roads
One historical street has been reconstructed, complete with a tram; now powered by batteries and recharged at a charging station to avoid the overhead conductors. When we visited many of the shops were not yet occupied and it had a Disneyland aspect to it.
Because the massacre there, on June 4th 1989, Tiananmen Square is of particular interest to tourists, an unofficial ambiguity is tolerated. Officially nothing happened; but with a nod and wink tourists are allowed to know the gory details. At one end of the square is the Forbidden City and at the other the mausoleum of Chairman Mao. Each side is flanked by government buildings. Along the west side is the Great Hall of the People and along the east is the National Museum of China.
Forbidden City (small part)
Science
China sets great store by the sciences. Not only does it see science and engineering as fundamental to its future success, it has a preoccupation with anthropology and palaeontology. And this is not just reflected in its museums.
China is dotted with excellently preserved ancient sites of Stone Age and Bronze Age cultures.
A 'dig' site - late Stone Age
China has a most impressive fossil record that links the dinosaurs to modern birds in a very unequivocal fashion. It was Chinese scientists who made these discoveries in palaeontology and developed the theory that is now accepted by scientists worldwide.
There is greater pride in the early technological achievements including printing, paper, gunpowder and the compass, as well as many others.
China is the third nation to put a man in space. After an initial unmanned flight to celebrate the Peoples’ Republic’s 50th Birthday in 1999, they sent their first Astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space aboard Shenzhou 5 in 2003. Then under the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, an un-manned lunar orbiter, Chang'e 1, successfully orbited the Moon in 2007. They are presently on track to put one or more men on the Moon by 2030; probably ahead of a US return.
China is becoming a significant generator of nuclear electricity. China presently ranks tenth (in order) behind: the United States; France; Japan; Russia; Germany; South Korea(ROK); Ukraine; Canada and the United Kingdom.
Currently China has just 13 nuclear power reactors in operation with a generating capacity of 10.23 GWe less than 2% of its electricity (compare this with France at over 75%; or Japan 30%). But more than 25 new larger reactors are under construction; and more are about to start construction soon. Read More…
To facilitate this expansion it has formed nuclear partnership deals with Westinghouse (US); France; Germany; Russia and Canada for the further development of various nuclear power technologies. As a result, in several areas, it is now leading the World in advanced nuclear technologies.
Additional reactors planned include some of the world's most advanced, to give more than a ten-fold increase in nuclear capacity to at least 80 GWe by 2020; 200 GWe by 2030; and 400 GWe by 2050.
Thus unless the US steps-up its nuclear generation program in response, by around 2025 China will overtake the US to become the largest generator of nuclear electricity in the World.
Similarly China is a world leader in advanced coal gasification and furnace technologies and will soon be the largest manufacturer of wind turbines.
Already most EV solar panels imported into Australia come from China.
Tourists
China in now the World’s second largest economy and, as we all know, the bespoke manufacturer for the whole World. Consequently there are some very good bargains to be had in local markets where replicas of fashion Brands can be found at very low prices. But in the upmarket shopping centres the prices are very similar to those in Australia.
Another good reason for visiting China is the food. There is a wide range of cuisine. In Beijing there was even a local French patisserie. Food is generally of a very high standard and we ate in a range of restaurants from a small ‘hole in the wall’; where a local wit laughingly mimed that we would throw up; to expensive tourist restaurants. We were not sick, even though the meal cost us about two dollars each.
On one bus trip, which was predominantly for locals, we were the only Europeans. We ate lunch, included in the fare, in a large barn-like cafeteria with the other passengers from the bus. The others were most concerned that we have our fair share of the communal servings on our table and were surprised that we could use chopsticks efficiently. Again, the food was fine. We soon became connoisseurs of Great Wall wine that comes in a wide range of prices and qualities; from cheap and nasty to very nice.
Generally speaking it is easy to travel and China as most public signs for, example in the metro or at the Airport, are written in English; in addition to the Chinese characters.
Typical Metro Station
Some Chinese people also speak English. And the Chinese are used to making themselves understood as there are many local dialects. My favourite example was when Wendy needed a toilet. No one understood the five or six euphemisms or alternatives for toilet that she tried. But our friend Sonia simply made a ‘psss’ sound. A Chinese woman immediately understood and directed her to the ladies convenience.
But learning some basic Mandarin is a good idea.
Economy
Many Chinese people are now quite wealthy and there are many German cars as well as locally manufactured and Japanese cars. There are still quite a number of locally fabricated electric rickshaws and delivery vehicles. The motors are obviously mass produced on a large scale.
I saw one being serviced in our street. They are a pancake design with a permanent magnet outer rotor and there is one at the hub of each driven wheel. The batteries are recharged from the grid and seem to give quite a good range. They are quiet and efficient with no exhaust; but I doubt that they have the same hill climbing ability as the Tuk Tuks used in India or Indochina.
Education is clearly very important; possibly as an outcome of the ‘one child policy’. For part of out time in Beijing we stayed in a Houtong (renovated traditional dwelling). We were surrounded in adjacent streets by schools and a University. In the playground at the local primary school there seemed to be a lot of chanting and organized exercise. But during breaks they run and scream like children everywhere. The children are very neatly turned out in their uniforms and delivered to the door by bus or car.
At the time of our visit the local newspapers were very concerned about the state of the US economy. China has very significant overseas reserves invested in the United States and they were concerned that policies like ‘quantitative easing’ would erode the value of the American dollar and degrade their investment in general. China is not a free country and most of the commentary in the newspapers can be interpreted as an official view.
To support their development several developing and developed countries keep their currency well below its underlying market value. While this denies their citizens lower cost imports and some luxuries, it makes their exports more competitive internationally and local manufacturing more profitable. It also results in an accumulation of foreign currency reserves that are effectively accessible by others, through the banking system, as loans for investment.
Developing countries often apply this mechanism as the higher work for less real income imposed on a domestic labour force can be hidden in (and is justified by) an environment of rapidly improving living standards. China is the prime example in the World today. As a result there is an ongoing exchange between the US and China as to how long this can go on; with China now challenging Japan as the principle source of US foreign investment; and the Chinese remarking unfavourably on the current US deficit and fiscal policies.
Communism
As a tourist it is easy to forget that China is a communist country where central planning is still very important. The government does not suffer opposition lightly. This is illustrated in the case of Rio Tinto where the Government took action to protect State owned businesses from industrial intelligence gathering; and possibly in retaliation for a failed business association.
Although there is a blossoming arts community, freedom of expression is still not tolerated in some areas. Among these is intolerance to some religions and sects like Falun Gong, a version of Buddhism that was believed by officials to be growing alarmingly and to be counter to scientific reality.
Similar strong action has been taken against the activities of the dissident Buddhists in Tibet, now an Autonomous Region within China, who support the Indian Dalai Lama and his ‘Tibetan government in exile’. In some ways this is understandable as it is well documented that the CIA were once very active in this region of China in support of the so called ‘government in exile’. There are few governments that would tolerate another government fermenting unrest and in any region inside their country.
In the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, Buddhist and supporters of the Dalai Lama staged a demonstration; initially killing some 20 Han Chinese people and wounding many more; at locations both within and outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. These were clearly orchestrated attacks as there were simultaneous attacks on 18 Chinese embassies and consulates around the World. By the time the resulting rioting was over up to 80 people, including Buddhists, were reported dead.
As is typically the case when it comes to religion a schism has developed among Buddhists in respect of the unlikely way that the Panchen Lama is selected. The Chinese Buddhists support the ‘Eleventh Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism’, Gyaincain Norbu. According to the Chinese, the traditional way is selecting the boy who is his reincarnation is by ‘drawing a name from the Golden Urn’; as opposed to the Dalai Lama’s method: the ‘recognition by the friends of his former incarnation’. Neither the Chinese nor the Tibetan exiles recognize each other's selection for the Panchen Lama. Both assume that there is such a thing as reincarnation. Like most such schisms, it seems to be a good excuse for killing people.
In July violent riots broke out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north-western China. The riots began when Uyghurs attacked Han Chinese and the Han retaliated. The riots had to be put down by the army in support of the local police. At least 197 people died with nearly 2,000 injured. Again a religion and ethnicity were at the heart of these riots. But unlike Tibet where Buddhism and the Dalai Lama have the following in the West; the Uyghurs are Muslims and the troubles were seen in the context of Muslim terrorism.
Prayer Hall Xi'an Mosque
One of the prominent leaders had alleged links to the ‘East Turkestan Islamic Movement’, listed terrorist organisation by the United Nations. Predictably, the alleged heavy-handed suppression of the riots was of greatest concern in Islamic countries. Like other Western leaders, our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd diplomatically urged restraint to bring about a ‘peaceful settlement to this difficulty’.
On both occasions China took measures that would be unacceptable in the West; including excluding some journalists and shutting down mobile phones and the Internet. With over 1.34 billion people spread over a vast and ethnically diverse country, there is periodic unrest in China and the authorities are still often aggressive putting it down. Local corruption is often cited as one of the causes and there is a current drive to reduce or eliminate this corruption.
Freedom
China is not a country in which all ideas can be expressed freely. It is to be hoped that once China takes its place in the first world some of these restrictions can be eased. Until then I can only repeat of the comments that I made in respect of India.
‘I consider a modern enlightened State to be one in which individuals can enjoy, as they choose, long, productive, healthy and egalitarian lives; having full and equal (preferably State provided) access to education that allows them to partake equally in the intellectual and material benefits of human knowledge and experience; free from the imposition of outdated or supernatural beliefs and fears or appeals to ancient (and in the light of modern knowledge, concocted) authority; free from predefined societal roles (based on family background or race, rather than personal merit); and free from violence or condemnation from others (physical, emotional, social or judgemental).’
While China seems to be attempting to reach towards these goals, I would want to add some words from another article on this website:
‘I believe that, in addition, everyone should have ready access to contemporary knowledge and ideas, limited only by their comprehension; and everyone should be able to live their lives, according to their own lights, with the maximum freedom, consistent with the freedom of others.’
More Pictures of China
Click on the image above